Author: Merrianna

Story: Sacrifices to Lady Justice: 3 of ?

Series: A Crime Lab Romance

Disclaimer: I don't in any way own the series CSI: NY. Those are the sole property of Anthony E. Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer, CBS and Paramount Home Entertainment.

Note: Upon research, it is determined that the Waldorf=Astoria really does contain an 'equal' sign in its name, and therefore it is the correct spelling of the hotel. Thank you.

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. merriannadragon@yahoo.com

Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/samwise_baggins/index.html

It had been relatively easy to keep the case quiet. The file was locked in Mac's office and the evidence was still residing in the 'classified' draw in the lab. Stella had been too busy with an apparent suicide, which turned out to be a homicide. Even with this lucky turn they never came up with a shred of conclusive leads. Unfortunately, after three days, they had to proceed to other cases that could be solved. In Mac's and Danny's spare time they would go over the gathered evidence, photos, and interviews from the employees of the restaurant, as well as an inconspicuous one from Stella.

Mac knew that if any other calls came in with same MO, he would immediately request Don and pull Danny off of whatever case he was working. The dark-haired investigator was counting on the lack of publicity to tick their perp off. It was regrettable that someone else would be harmed before they could get something on him.

Two weeks after their first victim a call came through that caught Mac's attention. He was out of his office in a flash, pulling out his cell phone and pressing the speed dial number for Danny.

"Messer." Danny's New York accent resonated from the small device.

"I need you in back of the Waldorf=Astoria." Mac's voice was tense with authority.

"The Waldorf=Astoria? Um... I'm working a case with Montana."

"Don't worry about it. I'll send Sheldon to replace you." Mac declared as he moved through the hallway to the elevator.

"Alright, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Danny's response ended abruptly as he disconnected.

In Mac's rush to get to the crime scene he accidental ran into Stella who had been walking in the opposite direction with her eyes fixed on the file in her hand. The file went flying just as Mac caught his partner by the forearms before she fell down from unexpectedly getting knocked into.

"Whoa. You're in a rush." Stella gave Mac a dazzling smile, which caught the man off guard. "It's okay to let go now." The green-eyed woman teased. The words sank in Mac flushed and promptly let go. Stella crouched down to retrieve papers that had flown out of the case file; Mac knelt down beside her to help. "So what's got your engines revved?"

Mac blinked once at her seemingly innocent question, "Got a priority call."

"Need any help? I'm almost done with this." Stella's eyes held interest, as most priorities were a challenge.

Inside Mac began to panic though he didn't let it show. "Actually, when you get done maybe you could help Lindsey out."

"Lindsey? I thought she was working with Danny?" the curly-haired investigator asked in confusion.

"She was. I need Danny on this one. It's possible that this homicide may pertain too a case we had a couple of weeks ago." Mac looked as if he didn't want Stella to continue.

"You mean the homicide at that nice five star restaurant?" Stella looked intrigued at the information; it was the most he'd given her so far on that case. It had been the first case that Mac hadn't shared his confidence in her, usually when he was stuck on things he would bounced ideas off of her or would just want to talk things over and it would trigger a thought. Stella was constantly amazed at how Mac's mind worked.

"Yeah." Mac's one syllable word was to further discourage his green-eyed partner.

"Oh well. I'll just finish this and give Lindsey a hand." The hurt was plain in Stella's voice though she tried to hide it.

"Thanks Stella." Mac gave her a rare smile as he turned and left. He was glad that she had dropped the thought of helping him but was sorry that he had to be so short with her. He didn't like keeping secrets from Stella, but he didn't want her involved with what that mad man was trying to do. He wanted to draw the murder's focus away from her if he could.

Don noticed the crime lab supervisor walking up as he was interviewing what most people would call a garbage man, but that title wasn't politically correct; now they were referred to as waste management; to Don, they were still in the business of garbage. He stopped the man in the middle of a tale about how it used to be in the old days, telling the man he would be back to finish in a moment. The blue-eyed detective strolled over to Mac, suppressing the urge to give one of his more flippant questions on why the man was late.

"This isn't precisely a rerun of the other one but that's only because the recycle truck's driver didn't see the victim until after he'd run over him... and the time of day is different." The two made their way to the vehicle where Danny was already processing, photographing the scene from every angle. This was a busy area for unloading and loading.

"There's some good news: the first cop on the scene ID'd the guy as a regular costumer at the precinct due to trying to constantly get his ladies out of jail: Anthony Spinadelli, AKA Tony the Easy, one of the high end pimps." Don smirked at the names that street people gave themselves.

"Well, he'll certainly be taking it easy now. I had to send Stella to Lindsey. She wanted to come." Mac sighed, giving Don an answer to his silent question.

The heavy double wheels were still on the man lower half; they could make out the naked torso with a sliced throat, knife in heart, cloth over eyes and a pool of blood. The deceased's hands were also under the tires but sticking out of a corner a piece white line paper could be seen.

"This guy is defiantly trying to get this into the news." Danny glanced over at the two as they met where the other people around couldn’t overhear.

"That's precisely what we don't want. I sure that the Hotel doesn't want this kind of publicity either." Mac reminded them.

"We need the truck moved; I've got all I can for photos with it in the way." Danny stated anxious to get this over with.

Don walked away towards the driver of he vehicle, "I'll handle it."

The truck started up with a roar; with the obstruction of the tires out of the way you could clearly see the victim was in the same position as the last one.

Determinedly, Mac knelt and removed the sticky piece of paper from under the dead man's left hand. The bloody writing, which also had faint tread marks, was just as bold and terrify as before.

"Are you getting the feeling that this guy may be someone we know, or am I just being paranoid?" Danny queried.

Mac looked over at his co-worker and had a feeling that the younger man might very well be right in his theory.

"Do you think Mac's avoiding working with me?" Stella suddenly asked Lindsey Monroe as they were going over the contents of the victim’s large purse at the trace lab.

Lindsey looked startled at the question. "No. Why would you ask that anyway?"

Stella gave a tiny shrug as she went over an address book, which had pages missing. "It's just that I get the feeling that he's keeping something from me. A lot of conversation end when I appear while he's talking to Danny or Don. And to the fact, he's been giving me these strange looks. Well not really strange... more like protective. It's almost the same as the ones right after Fra..." Stella's rambling stopped abruptly as she fought to control her emotions.

Lindsey watched sympathetically as the older woman struggled with memories that weren't pleasant. She knew about unpleasant memories. Work and conversation that stayed away from such topics were always ways to keep such things at bay. "It's not like him to avoid things, that I know of. But then again I've only been here about a year."

Stella looked up at the way the young blonde woman said that last sentence. "Is Danny still giving you a hard time?"

Lindsey shouldn't have been surprised that Stella heard the sarcasm in her voice. She was very good at her job, and she could read people with very little effort. What amazed Lindsey most was how easily the green-eyed woman could read their boss.

"Not as much anymore. It's just that he was the primary on this one, and Mac yanked him onto something else." Danny Messer had been on her case the whole year since as she was the newbie. She supposed that some of that was starting to fade, but there were times that he could really irritate her.

"Well it does involve one that they already have been working. It's quite possible that they have a Serial Killer. Which means that time is against them, and they don't want to have to update someone else if they don't need to." Stella who had been the one to originally start complaining was now defending Mac's need to re-assign personal.

"I guess that's why you're his partner then; so you can explain when things need to change." Lindsey smiled.

Stella gaped at the young investigator a moment. "Well you certainly put me in my place."

They both laughed and focused more fully on their work.

Once back at the lab, Mac went down to the morgue to met up with the head medical examiner, Sid Hammerback.

"You always seem to like to make my days eventful," quipped Sid as he stood next to a female corpse.

"It's in my contract. So what do you have for me?" Mac countered, his comeback lacked its usual good humor.

Moving away from the female Sid went to the table that held Mac's murder victim. He removed his gloves and replaced them with fresh ones. "Well, I have a feeling your going to be just as disappointed as before. The cause of death was a sharp thin blade that cut through the throat, severing the main artery and larynx. Other wounds where postmortem: cutting out of the tongue, removal of the eyes, and a stab to the heart. This person knows exactly what he’s doing; there's no hesitation. There are no other marks except for those that the dump truck did to the poor sap."

Mac hung his head briefly before looking back at the white-haired man. "How long do you say he's been dead?"

"Mac, what's going on? This case seems to be a little personal. And seeing as I don't think you frequent prostitute alley or bargain with pimps what is the 'connection'?" Sid unsnapped his glasses letting them fall around his neck.

The dark-haired investigator gave the older man a considering look. In the end he stayed quiet.

"You know investigators aren't the only ones who can figure out puzzles. The time of death looks to be approximately five o'clock to seven o'clock in the morning." He stated as he slipped off his gloves and reached for the clipboard. Sid gave the other man an assessing stare. "I wonder what Stella has to say about this case?"

Mac struggled to keep his expression neutral, "That could be considered blackmail."

"It's only considered blackmail if you needed to keep something quiet from your partner. You wouldn't need to do that, would you?" Sid's eyes twinkled with ill suppressed humor and glee at having caught the man out.

Mac frowned at the white-haired man; it wasn't always wise to verbally spar with the chief medical examiner; he had a way of getting the best of you without too much effort.

Giving a reluctant sigh, Mac took the Medical Examiner aside and spoke in a hushed voice. "You are not to mention this to Stella." He waited as Sid made up his mind if the information was enough of a lure to keep a secret from the beautiful Greek woman. Finally, Sid gave a nod hoping he wouldn't regret what he was about to hear.